Camera Labs

I don't see where anyone else has had this problem and it's not new with my sx30is. I had the same problem with my sx20is. When I bought the 20, I was astonished by what a good camera it was. Had many moonshots that were incredible and close-ups of moths were astonishing. However, after a couple of years (out of warrantee), the zoom began to zoom in and out any time it felt like it. Then it started losing focus. Not good for an automatic focus camera!

I decided to spring for the 30, thinking that perhaps I got a lemon the first time around. However, less than a month after purchase, it began zooming in and out uncontrollably. Fortunately, Best Buy let me exchange it for a brand new one. At first it worked well but after several months, the zooming started again and the focusing was not up to par. I returned it under warrantee to Canon and, although the service was swift, the fix did not last and the problems started all over again. I returned it one more time and, although they claimed to have fixed it, the zooming problem persists and too many of my recent summer photos are not in focus.

Canon said this about my first repair: "The optical assembly did not operate properly causing an error to be displayed. The optical assembly was replaced." They said pretty much the same thing the second time except that the fix was "electrical adjustments were carried out on the optical assembly."

My question to this forum is: Has this happened to anyone else with the sx30is? Also, do you think there is something that I could be doing that would create such a problem?

I love this camera (when it's working) and I don't see another automatic out there that I like. If you have some suggestions for me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Hi AnnieAlto,

I've actually owned a SX20 IS for a little more than 2 years now and I've experienced no problems whatsoever, even after a friend twisted the lens to zoom thinking it was a DSLR and almost broke it, but despite that, after a while it worked fine except that the AF system does a little more noise than usual. So basically what I want to point out here is that I don't think it's strictly the camera's problem.
Considering this has already happened to 2 of your cameras, I think that the problem might be something that isn't the camera's fault. Here are some of my ideas:

1.- You might be storing it in a very hot and/or damp place, this can usually mess up circuits, especially heat (for example, my PS3 broke down because some of the internal components got deformed because of the heat of prolonged use, although this might be a problem exclusively for PS3s)
2.- If you use the camera for very long periods of time it might get the same problem my PS3 had (I'm not very sure about this, so don't pay much attention to it, but I think it's worth a mention).
3.- Dropping the camera won't do it any good, and these cameras are quite flimsier than a DSLR, although little knocks won't hurt it (although I don't think this is your problem)
4.- Actually, it might have been really bad luck of yours that both your cameras have been flawed, but let's just hope that's not the case.
5.- The conditions in which you've used the cameras might not be appropriate, check the camera's t highest and lowest temperatures for operation and the top humidity it can handle.

Well, those are my theories, they might be right, they might not, but I guess it's worth giving it a shot. Also I'd like to mention that I don't own the SX30, so if it's a problem of the SX30 that your SX20 unfortunately had as well, I don't think I can help much.

Anyways, I hope I helped and that you can find the problem and, if possible, fix it.

Cheers

_________________
Gear: Canon SX20 IS, Canon Rebel T3i, Canon EF-S 18-55mm
Wishlist: Canon 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II
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